Cable railway



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ERNEST V. JOHNSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

CABLE RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 379,648, dated March 20,1888.

Application filed September 29, 1887.

T0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ERNns'r V. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, residing in Ohicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Cable Railways, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to cable railways, and more particularly to the pavement between the rails by which in part the rails are supported or braced, and the groove-rails and the wheel or track rails kept in proper relation to each other.

In cable railways great difficulty has heretofore been experienced in properly supporting and keeping the two groove-rails in position in respect to each other, and alsoin keeping the paving-blocks between the groove-rails and track-rails in place. Owing to the narrowness of the space between the track-rails and the groove-rails there is not sufficient room to give requisite lateral strength and body to the pavement to keep the blocks tight and prevent their becoming loose and being kicked up; and the trackrail and grooverail are both ordinarily provided with dat or horizontal overhanging Iiangcs, against the edges of which iianges the paving-blocks have their lateral bearing, while a vacant space is left beneath the flange of the rail, so that little or no support is given to the rails by the paving-blocks. This vacant space or cavity beneath the flange of the rail also affords room for the tamping oriilling material between the paving-blocks to get into, and thus tends to loosen the blocks. Attempts have been made to iill in this cavity beneath the {iange ofthe rail with cement, concrete, or wet sand, and thus give a somewhat better lateral bearing to the paving-blocks; but it is not satisfactory, and often falls, out even before the blocks can be put down. Sometimes, also, hard wood strips have been bolted to the rails.

It is the object of my invention to provide a cable railway of a simple, cheap, durable, and efficient construction, which will obviate these difficulties and give a iirm support to the track and groove rails.

To this end my invention consists in the novel devices and novel combinations of de- Serial No. 251,068. (No model.)

vices herein shown and described, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, and in which simi- .lar letters of reference indicate like parts,

Figure l is a vertical cross-section of a cable railway embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a top or plan View of a short portion of the way, and Fig. 3 is a vertical section ou line 3 3 of Fig. 2.

In said drawings, A A represent the groove` rails; B, the track-rails; ct a', the flanges of the groove-rails, and b b the flanges of the track-rails upon which the wheels run.

C C are paving-blocks, preferably made of vitried burnt clay, having inclined ends c to fit the vertically-inclined portion of thegrooverails, and channels c to fit the flange a of the grooverail. D D are similar paving-blocks, having a vertical end, d, to fit the vertical web of the rail B, a cutaway or channeled under corner, df, to fit the bottom or base ange b2 of said rail, and an upper grooved or cutaway corner, d2, to fit the upper flange, b, of said rail B.

E isthe usual bed, of sand or like material, upon which the paving-blocks directly rest. The upper side corners, c3 d3, are beveled or cut away to form holdinggrooves for the horses feet. The blocks C D have vertical ends c4 d* which fit together. The usual packing or iilling material, of gravel and tar or other substance, is forced between the blocks at their ends to spread them slightly apart at their adjoining ends and cause the molded rail-f1tting ends to bear snugly against the rails AB. The blocksOO are made alternately short and long blocks, the short blocks being ordinarily about nine inches long., while the longer ones are thirteen inches in length; and the blocks DDare likewise divided alternately into short and long ones, so that the meet-ing ends of thc blocks C D will break `joints. If desired, the

blocks may be made still shorter and more thantwo employed to reach between the rails. I prefer, however, to make them long enough, so that two blocks will reach the whole distance.

In building the railway the rails A B are of course both secured in place before the pav- IOO ' up or loosened.

ingblocks are put down, and the paving- .blocks are put in place, with their projecting ends c d fitting under the flanges ofthe rails, by slipping the blocks, one at a time, lengthwise of the rail into place. y 4

The outerflange, b', of the rail B is or may be likewise support-ed by a paving-block, Gr, the end g of which is molded to fit the crosssection of the `rail, the same having a vertical end, g', cut away under corner, g2, and channeled upper corner; g3.

By means ofthe paving-blocks C and D, having their outer ends molded to fit the crosssection of the rails A B, the flanges of the rails are supported, and 4the paving-blocks themselves are securely locked in place, so that there is no possibility, of their being kicked I ordinarily make the blocks of vitrified clay, because the clay may be readily molded to fit the cross-sections of the rails. They may, however, be made of asphalt or cement, or other suitable material.

The sides ci di' of the molded blocks C Gand D D are scoriated, roughened, 0r corrugated so that the hot orI molten filling material F will,when it hardens, serveto secure the blocks more thoroughly together and cause them to mutual-ly support each other.

I claiml. The combination, in a cable railway, of groove-rails A, having flanges a', with trackrails B, having flanges b, burntclay blocks C, having inclined ends c, to tit the inclined portion of said rail A, and channelc, to t the flange of said rail, and burnt-clay pavingblock D, having end d, to tthe vertical web of -said rail, channeled lower corner, d', to t the baseiiange of said rail,and a channeled upper corner, d2, to t the upper ange, b, of said rail, substantially as specified.

2. The combination, in a cable railway, of

`block D, having end d, tot'the vertical web of said rail, channeled lower corner, d', to t the base-flange of said rail, and a channeled upper corner, 12,10 lit the upper flange, b, of said rail, and burnt-clay paving-block G, having molded endg, to lit the vertical web of said rail B, channeled lower corner, g', to fit the base-flange of said rail, and channeled upper corner, g2, to it the upper flange, b', of said rail, substantially as specified.

3. The combination, in a cable railway, of groove rails A, with track rails B, having anges b, burnt clay paving blocks` C, having inclined ends c, to fit the inclined portion of said groove-rail A, and burnt-clay pavingblocks D, having end d, to fit the vertical web of'said track-rail, channeled lower corner, d', to t the base-flange of said rail, and a channeled upper corner, di, to t the upper flange, b, ofl said rail, substantially as specified.

ERNEST V. JOHNSON.'l

Witnesses:

EDMUND ADcocK, H. M. MUNDAY. 

